Caring for Loved Ones with Alzheimer’s Disease: Families Struggle for Resources to Cope

Candace Y.A. Montague, a health reporter for Capital Community News authored the article below. It originally ran here.
It started off with small, inexplicable acts like leaving raw chicken in the microwave or putting bread in the freezer. But Angela Byrd knew that something wasn’t right about her 67-year-old mother Shirley. It escalated to car accidents where Shirley would hit another car and argue that it wasn’t her fault. Then one day Byrd got a call from her grandmother explaining that Shirley was lost in Takoma Park, Northwest. She had no recollection of how she got there. The Byrds live on Alabama Avenue in Southeast.
“That’s when I took her car keys away,” said Byrd. “I just couldn’t take it anymore.” With the support of her aunt, her grandmother, and her mother’s best friend, Byrd convinced her mother to go to a doctor, who diagnosed her as having the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. “I think my mother already knew this. She just wasn’t telling everybody else about it. She’s a strong woman.”
Now Byrd is her mother’s primary source of care. She works from home so that she can take care of her mom and keep her safe. “My mother’s a wanderer. Sometimes I’ll wake up in the morning and she’s gone.” Byrd stays with her mother to care for her day and night.
Byrd is one of thousands of people in this country who are caring for an Alzheimer’s patient. In the District there are resources to he...

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - July 10, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Aging Caregiving Chronic Conditions Alzheimer's disease Source Type: blogs